FLIGHT, JANUARY 9, 1931
were laid down in 1929, but which did not emerge
until 1930, we had, from the Supermarine works,
the " Southampton X " and the air yacht, from
Saunders-Roe, the civilian types Cutty Sark, Wind-
hover and Cloud, in amphibian form as well as
plain flying boat, and the A.7 service type. Shorts
at Rochester gave us the Singapore II, one of the
fastest flying boats in the world, the " Valetta "
twin-float monoplane, and the " Calcutta " service
type, as well as beginning construction of the large
four-engined boats for Imperial Airways. And the
Blackburn firm produced the " Sydney " three-
engined monoplane flying boat. Truly a rather
remarkable output for one year.
In the service class of aircraft, the outstanding
event of the year was the production of a number
of interceptor fighters, some of which were actually
designed and built before 1930, but were mostly
completed and tested last year. Ultimately, the
Hawker " Fury " was the type chosen, and is now
being built for the R.A.F. Other firms who, although
not succeeding in winning the competition, produced
remarkable aircraft in this class were : Bristols, the
De Havilland Company, Fairey Aviation Co., Glosters,
Parnall's, Vickers, and Westlands. Of other high-
performance machines which reached the squadrons
during the past year may be mentioned the Hawker
" Hart " bomber, which also, like the Fairey " Fox,"
was experimentally fitted with a steam-cooled engine.
Of civil aircraft, a whole host appeared during
1930, ranging from small, single-seater light 'planes
to 40-seater commercial aircraft. No detailed refer-
ence to the various new types is necessary here, as
they have all been described and illustrated in FLIGHT,
but the mere mention of type names will probably
surprise by the extent of the list. Of machines for
the private owner, marketed during 1930, there were :
The Avro Avian Sports, the Comper " Swift," the
de Havilland " Puss Moth," the Desoutter Mark II,
the Hendy 302, the Robinson " Redwing," the
Segrave " Meteor," the Southern " Martlet," the
Spartan " Arrow," and the Watt D.W7.2, not to
mention certain experimental types which have not
yet been offered to the public.
Among the larger and more powerful types,
designed for commercial rather than private flying,
the year saw the introduction of the Handley-Page
42, the Vickers " Viastra I," " Viastra II," and
" Vellore II," and the building in considerable
numbers of the Westland " Wessex."
Among the " unorthodox " aircraft which have
undergone development during the year, it may
be said that the Cierva " Autogiro " principle has
now reached a stage of development where a machine
can be built which comes within measurable distance
of the performance of the more normal type, while
the non-stalling, non-spinning and steep descent
qualities are such as to be equalled by no fixed-wing
aircraft.
In the aero engine world it may be said that the
outstanding innovation of 1930 was the introduction
of the Napier " Rapier" 16-cylinder air-cooled
engine. The Armstrong-Siddeley Company brought
out several new types during the year, thus closing
the, actually very small, gap which previously-
existed in their range of engines. The Rolls-Royce
firm, by providing three distinct propeller-reduction
gear ratios, two compression ratios, a normally
aspirated type, and two degrees of supercharging,
have provided no less than 12 varieties of their " F "-
type engine, and the Bristol Company has produced
two geared and medium supercharged commercial
" Jupiters," designed to fill the gap between the
naturally-aspirated engines and the fully super-
charged as used in certain types of service aircraft.
The de Havilland company marketed during the
year the " Gipsy II " and " Gipsy III " engines,
the Cirrus Company's " Hermes II " came into
extensive use, while the inverted " Hermes " was
fitted in a few machines. The aero engines being
developed by Sir William Morris have not yet been
placed on the market, but will doubtless find their
way to the front during the present year. All that
may be said of them at present is that they are radial
air-cooled. Aero engine development of the imme-
diate future promises to be chiefly in the direction of
the compression-ignition engine.
For British airships the year was a lamentable one,
the successful flight of R 100 to Canada and back
scarcely counterbalancing the terrible calamity which
overtook R 101 and resulted in the loss of so many
valuable lives.
Many notable flights were made in 1930, such as
that of Captain Barnard and the Duchess of Bedford
to the Cape and back, Barnard's flights, first to
Malta and back in two days, and then to Tangier
and back in two days. Kingsford Smith's flights
from Ireland to Newfoundland and, later, his flight
from England to Australia in less than 11 days must
also rank among the successful flights of the year,
although FLIGHT has never disguised its disapproval
of long transoceanic flights in landplanes. The flight
of Mr. Caspareuthus from London to Capetown in
9^ days also showed what can be done in the way
of quick air transport by a determined pilot.
The aircraft specially designed to carry air mails
for which FLIGHT has been agitating, did not
materialise during 1930, but we have hopes for 1931.
NEW YEAR HONOURS
THE following are amongst the names included in the New-
Year Honours list, issued on January 1 :—
Order of the Bath
C.B. (Military Division)
Air-Commodore Patrick Henry Lyon Playfair, M.C.,
R.A.F.
Order of the British Empire
• :,..-. (Civil Division) .
O.B.E. ^
Robert Stanley Capon, Esq., Superintendent of Scientific
Research, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Air Ministry.
M.B.E.
Stuart Davey, Esq., Staff Officer, Air Ministry.
Awards to Airmen
Air Force Cross
Sqdn.-Ldr. John Allan Cecil Wright, T.D. (Auxiliary Air
Force).
Flight-Lieut. Gilbert Edward Nicholetts.
Flight-Lieut. Edward Simeon Colbeck Davis.
Air Force Medal
361911 Sergt, Alfred Victor Bax.
- , • British Empire Medal
(Military Division)
For Meritorious Service
155288 Flight-Sergt. Edward Victor Hibberd, R.A.F.